Shea Shaw has made remarkable progress since an accident nearly three years ago left her unable to speak, stand or eat.

But she still has a long way to go.

That’s why Shea’s Hope Foundation is raising funds for Shea to try a promising new therapy that could do the 18-year-old a world of good.

On Jan. 8, 2011, Shea, a sophomore at Los Gatos High School, was hit by a car just after 1 a.m. while walking near the intersection of Camden and Bascom avenues. The driver sped off, leaving the 15-year-old with a shattered femur, torn bladder, broken pelvis and skull fracture.

During Shea’s three-month hospital stay, Shea’s mother learned that her daughter’s bones would heal, but her brain might not. The doctors explained that Shea had suffered global head trauma and that severe brain injuries are unpredictable in terms of recovery.

Carie Shaw, who works at Krush Salon in Los Gatos, would like funds to go toward therapy and a new stand-up frame for her daughter.

Shaw hopes to raise enough money to give Shea access to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatments–sessions within a pressurized chamber that pushes oxygen into areas of the body that have low blood flow. Shaw explained that the oxygen makes the cells near the injured area bigger and stronger to compensate for the scar tissue.

Dr. Scott Sherr, medical director at the San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine, wrote that research is showing that the therapy will probably be the major treatment for traumatic brain injury patients in the next five years.

“Many patients that have been ‘given up’ on by their medical doctors are making remarkable improvements both mentally and physically,” he wrote.

Shaw would like to give her daughter multiple sessions of the therapy. Each session is two to three months of daily therapy and costs $6,800.

Shaw’s insurance company covered 30 visits each to occupational, speech and physical therapists.

“We did that in the first six weeks,” Shaw said. Since then, Shea’s family has paid for much of Shea’s therapy, which costs $125 per hour, thanks to fundraising efforts.

Shea’s therapy sessions have slowed due to finances, her mother said. Shea attends adaptive water therapy twice a week. She also does 45 minutes of speech therapy and 45 minutes of physical therapy once a week. However, her mother said, Shea should be having two or three therapy sessions every day.

Shaw’s ultimate goal would be to raise enough money to take her daughter to TIRR Memorial Herman Rehab Hospital in Houston, Texas–the hospital where former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords received rehabilitative therapy. Giffords was shot in the head the same day Shea was struck by the car, her mother said.

Shaw believes a therapy “boot camp” of sorts would help her daughter greatly. At TIRR, Shea would receive many kinds of therapy including occupational, cognitive and music therapy.

Shaw also would like to purchase a new, maneuverable stand-up frame that would allow Shea to practice bearing her own weight at home multiple times a day. Standing up is “very, very important” for Shea’s muscles, tendons, nerves and brain, Shaw said. A maneuverable frame would cost between $4,000 and $5,000.

The frame that was provided by the insurance company is extremely difficult to manage and requires at least two people to get Shea into the contraption.

Slow progress

On Sept. 17, Shea rested in her wheelchair while her mother played music for her on a small device. When Shea coughed weakly, Shaw encouraged her.

“Come on, you can do it!” Shaw said. “Good swallow, buddy.”

At another point, Shaw encouraged her daughter to lift her head, which had begun to droop. Shea appeared to be struggling, so Shaw gently helped her daughter lift her chin off her chest and Shea was able to hold it up on her own.

Shaw has been improving since the accident, although Shaw described the process as “two steps forward and one step back.”

Shaw said her daughter can understand what’s going on and is able to communicate with eye movement and breath. She can answer yes or no questions by pressing handheld buttons. Sometimes, Shaw will come close to her daughter’s face and say, “Kiss me or I’ll never leave,” and Shea will pucker her lips slightly.

“She has a way of communicating, with me especially,” her mother said. “Her new speech therapist was blown away by her eye movement.”

Shea is still fed through a tube in her stomach. However, Shaw said Shea can swallow a tiny bit of liquid. She enjoyed a bit of mango carrot juice she was given earlier in the day.

“She was really swallowing it,” Shaw said.

Shaw said her daughter loves being outside and having water therapy in the De Anza swimming pool.

A friend of Shaw’s donated money for a van that Shaw purchased on July 7, Shea’s graduation day.

“I’m totally grateful,” Shaw said.

Shea didn’t cross the stage, but she attended the ceremony and wore a cap and gown.

A mother’s love

Shaw believes her daughter deserves a second chance.

“She was just shy of 16 when this happened. That’s pretty early to be taken out of the game,” she said.

Shaw said she has a lot of support and tries to think positively.

“When the pain is so great, you’re in the gutter no matter what, but it’s your choice to put your face down in it or keep looking up at the sky,” she said. “I have a grandson, a granddaughter, a beautiful son and so many people that care for me.

“It’s painful,” Shaw said, her eyes glistening. “But what are you going to do? You’ve got to keep fighting, like any mother would.”

Shaw said she didn’t smile for months after the accident. Now she is able to laugh and enjoy herself again. However, working, planning fundraisers and caring for her daughter around the clock is a challenge, Shaw admits.

Ellen Pifer, a Los Gatos-based copywriter, described Shaw as a “loyal, dedicated mom. She’s an expert at taking care of her daughter. It really is impressive,” she said.

Shaw works three 10-hour shifts a week as a hairdresser. While she works, someone comes in and watches Shea. Shaw’s mother, Louise DeLucchi, who has been living with the family since July 2011, watches Shea when Shaw runs errands. However, DeLucchi isn’t strong enough to lift Shea on her own.

“I’m tired. But you know what? She’s worth every tear shed,” Shaw said of her daughter.

Shea’s Hope

Shaw has filled out the paperwork for Shea’s Hope Foundation to become an authorized nonprofit organization. Once the paperwork goes through, a small percentage of funds raised will go to help people other than Shea.

Shaw envisions the donated money being an emergency fund for people in a time of tragedy.

“People have been so generous to me. Generosity is huge,” she said.

Shea’s Hope Foundation will host the “One Love, One Heart” fundraiser on Nov. 2 from 4 to 8 p.m. at a private residence in Almaden Valley. The fundraiser will include a gourmet dinner, live music performances, a raffle and a silent and a live auction hosted by alumni NFL players.

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